DAFM has 'questions to answer' on Shannon callows scheme - SF

Sinn Féin has said that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has “questions to answer” on the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme.

Claire Kerrane, the party’s spokesperson on agriculture, food and the marine, described the scheme as a “mess” while speaking after an Oireachtas committee meeting this week.

Roscommon-Galway TD Kerrane said that, at a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, she raised the scheme for discussion, calling for “serious questions” to be resolved.

According to Kerrane, the committee agreed to ask department officials to come before it and answer questions from TDs and senators.

“This cannot happen quick enough. There are serious questions to be answered, primarily the fact that overnight, this scheme went from the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme to the ‘Shannon Callows Special Area of Conservation Flood Scheme’. I think this is a deliberate move to limit the number of farmers who can access this much needed compensation,” Kerrane said.

“Other issues have been flagged by elected representatives and by the Save our Shannon Organisation repeatedly and have gone unaddressed. This cannot continue,” she added.

“I brought the flaws of this scheme to the floor of the Dáil last month to be debated. The (Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue) confirmed then that as of January 19, 268 of the 277 (97%) applications had been processed and paid in respect of €736,398 on a total of 2,266ha.

“The department’s own analysis estimates that approximately 2,500ha of grassland were impacted by flooding. However, there are question marks over their monitoring system as many farmers who have been flooded have not been offered compensation,” the Sinn Féin TD said.

Kerrane said she was aware of farmers on one side of a drain that were offered compensation, while farmers on the other side were not offered compensation.

“Flaws identified in this scheme need to be fixed and farmers whose lands have been flooded need to be supported. They have suffered enough,” she added.